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My First Foreign Object Tossing Incident

I've changed my home-bound commute from S. High Street to going up 4th Ave. instead of Front Street and N. High Street. And for the most part it's better as far as time goes. It's not as much fun as the previous route, which took me through the Short North and some of the fun areas of High, but with fewer stops I get home quicker, which is nice.

But yesterday, for the first time, I had something thrown at me. I was crossing over I-670 on 4th, and a pickup decided that I wasn't over far enough (in other words, I wasn't riding on the shoulder, which I refuse to do for multiple safety reasons). So he started honking at me. I looked back with a rather withering glare and kept going. As I got to the other side of 670 and pulled over to the right-most lane, the truck roared past me and someone in the passenger seat threw a wad of paper at me.

It was only paper, and it didn't even come close to hitting me... but this was a first for me. I try very hard to ride in a way that's both safe for me and considerate to those around me. Granted, if push comes to shove and it's one or the other, I opt for safety. And that was the case yesterday.

But it was disheartening to have that happen for the first time. I've NEVER had problems with that sort of thing, and I'd always counted myself lucky in that regard.

I guess it's just a matter of time before we all run into an asshole, though, so be careful out there. And don't stop taking the lane.

The Dispatch report that Columbus Rides Bikes shared on Facebook today is entitled "More crashes come with more bicycle traffic on dedicated lanes," and discusses the new lanes and the number of accidents that have happened there. None of these accidents/crashes has been fatal.

So... you can read the article and get the statistics. Here's a summary of them, though, with a quote from the article:
...the number of crashes has jumped. Between 2012 and 2015, there were five crashes involving bicycles on Summit between Hudson and East 5th Avenue.…

In a move that has left quite a few people stranded in Columbus, the ride-sharing company Car2Go has announced today that they're pulling out of the local market as of May 31.

car2go is saddened to announce that we have made the difficult decision to suspend our operations in Columbus as of May 31. Read why here: https://t.co/gRSibUhotB
— car2go Columbus (@car2goColumbus) May 24, 2018
This has got me more than a little pissed off and very inconvenienced.

There's no doubt - Car2Go improved the quality of my family's life for the past few years while they were active in town. As a one-car family where I rode my bike and took the bus most days, Car2Go filled in the gap nicely when we needed that extra set of wheels to get ourselves places.

Here's the news they sent out via their website today:

HELLO,
We’re writing to let you know that after careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue car2go service in Columbus, effective May 31, 2018.
In 201…

I've been out with the flu for a few days (no, I'm not oinking), and I missed this surprising post from Jeff Stephens of Consider Biking back on October 9th. Suffice to say that Jeff took some time to sit back and watch the behavior of our city's cyclists, and was dismayed at what he saw. I'm in complete agreement with Jeff on this issue. Simply too many Columbus cyclists do not obey the law. But let's look at the reasons that Jeff proposed in his commentary: Why are you riding this way? Are you so self-absorbed, that the world revolves around you? Are you just opportunistic since the bicycle gives you the opportunity to cheat traffic? Are you “expressing yourself” with your nonchalant coolness, hipness, whatever? Or, do you just not know any better? Do you just follow the example of the guy/gal in front of you because you’re new to urban bicycling? (I think it’s the latter.)Jeff's statement breaks the possible reasons for this behavior down into two extrem…